web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
designed for children developed by KidZui, Inc. The KidZui browser used a Zooming User Interface paradigm to make browsing easier for children."KidZui offers safe surfing for kids, British Computer Society Search results appeared as scaled-down images of websites, videos, and pictures that children click on to zoom in and see the content. Children can also browse by category without typing search terms. The KidZui browser did not access the open
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. KidZui uses teachers and parents to screen content and maintains a
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
of approved
URLs
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed as a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifie ...
.Taylor, Paul (March 27, 2008). "Safer surfing for the kids, Financial Times The KidZui browser could only access URLs in the approved database. Children built
avatars
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance ...
called Zuis to represent themselves online. They earned points for web browsing and used points to gain levels and buy clothes and accessories for their Zuis. Children could share KidZui content with friends online.CSM Reviews KidZui (March 20, 2008). Common Sense Media To add a friend online, children needed to know the friends Zui name. There was no online directory of Zui names, so children needed to get their friends Zui names offline in order to add them. Friends also needed to be approved by parents before they become available in the browser. KidZui also tracked children's Internet usage and sends reports to their parents on what their children looked at online.
KidZui began development on the product in the summer of 2006.Olsen, Stefanie (March 18, 2008). "KidZui vets Web for kids, After beta testing, KidZui was offered to the general public on March 19, 2008.Mossberg, Walter (March 20, 200). "KidZui's Parent Plan Lets Children Explore In Safe Corner of Web, The Wall Street Journal Hendrickson, Mark (March 18, 2008). "KidZui: The Kid Safe Browser, TechCrunch The KidZui browser and basic reports for parents are free. KidZui makes revenue through a paid membership program.Hendrickson, Mark (June 4, 2008), "KidZui Persuaded by the Power of Free, TechCrunch Membership gives kids additional features like more available clothing and accessories for Zuis, more background and themes, and the ability to get to higher levels with points. Membership gives parents more reporting capabilities to track their children's online activity, and more ways to customize the KidZui browser for their children.
KidZui was designed for children between the ages of 3 and 12 years old. KidZui had a focus on children's online safety, but they also tried to expand the content available to children online. Rather than solely using
filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
, KidZui trained and enlisted parents and teachers to search out content that is
appropriate for children
Age appropriateness refers to people behaving as predicted by their perspective timetable of development. The perspective timetable is embedded throughout people's social life, primarily based on socially-agreed age expectations and age norms. Fo ...
even if it was not designed expressly for children. Websites that had been reviewed and approved by KidZui could carry a KidZui seal of approval that indicates the site's content is appropriate for children. Websites that carried the seal agree to abide by KidZui's content guidelines. KidZui was also a prize on the 3rd round on the ''
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
'' game show ''
BrainSurge
''BrainSurge'' is an American children's game show that aired on Nickelodeon and was hosted by Jeff Sutphen. The show taped its first season in February 2009, and debuted on September 28, 2009. The show's format was adapted from the Japanese gam ...
''.
In August 2014,
LeapFrog
Leapfrog is a children's game in which players vault over each other's stooped backs.
History
Games of this sort have been called by this name since at least the late sixteenth century.Bell, Diane (March 20, 2008). "Quest for kid-safe surfing yields new Web browser, San Diego Union-Tribune Vignisson joined with Cliff Boro and Thomas Broadhead to create KidZui.Thomas, Dave (August 8, 2008). "A Safe and Fun Solution, bizSanDiego Prior to founding KidZui, Vignisson, Boro, and Broadhead had been partners on other Internet startups including Infogate, which they sold to AOL Time Warner in March 2003.
Vignisson was frustrated by the approach of existing technologies that were available at the time; online filters helped keep out dangerous content, but could only be used in conjunction with adult browsers, which are hard for children to use. Existing children's browsers were easier to use but had access to very small amounts of content. Vignisson, Boro, and Broadhead set out to build an easy-to-use children's browser with access to a large and diverse set of online content and activities.
KidZui is a venture backed
startup
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...
. Investors include Maveron, Emergence Capital, and
First Round Capital
First Round is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage funding to technology companies.
Founded by Josh Kopelman
Joshua Kopelman is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist.
Kopelman is best k ...
.
Prior to founding KidZui, Vignisson, Boro, and Broadhead had been partners on other Internet startups including Infogate, which they sold to AOL Time Warner (later Time Warner, now
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
) in March 2003.
KidZui began beta testing with children in 2006. KidZui was released to the general public on March 19, 2008 to generally favorable reviews. The original release of KidZui required a paid subscription. KidZui experienced some early criticism for not offering a free version of the product. The company released a free version on June 4, 2008. The free version of the product offers the same features as the original subscription-based product. KidZui introduced a membership program that same month. The membership program unlocks additional features in the kids’ browser and comes with more advanced reporting features for parents.
ZuiTube
ZuiTube was the online video destination that used KidZui's catalogue of kid-friendly video content. ZuiTube used a
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
designed for children. ZuiTube provided a "Play All" mode that allowed kids to watch all
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
s within a specific channel without interruption, as well as an "auto complete" search feature with smart-type that optimized results based on popularity, or "Kid Rank." ZuiTube also offered KidZui-user-generated video channels as an opportunity for kids to both enjoy and express themselves within KidZui's community of users.
ZuiTube.com launched in August 2009. The website launch was followed by the release of the ZuiTube App for iPhone and
iPod Touch
The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...
. As of July 2016, the domain name is no longer registered and the app has been pulled from the
iOS app store
The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Deve ...
.
Business model
The basic version of KidZui with access to all content was free. Revenue came exclusively from paid memberships. It is not clear what percentage of families used the free version versus paying for membership. KidZui included advertisements to children in their browser, mostly based on sponsored partnerships with Under Armour, Mattel, and Comcast.
Content guidelines
KidZui used
filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
to pre-screen content. After screening by filters, the content was reviewed by paid teachers and parents using a set of content guidelines.
In 2007, KidZui hired Deanne Kells, a former vice president and Editor in Chief from LeapFrog, to establish the content guidelines and a process for reviewing and approving content.Fudge, Tom (March 3, 2008). "San Diego Entrepreneur Creates Kid-Friendly Site for Safe Web Exploration, KPBS Radio, Interview with Cliff Boro and Deanne Kells Kells used childhood developmental principles to form a content screening protocol where content is first determined to be appropriate for children, and then classified by age for developmental level and reading ability.
Browser features
KidZui used a Zooming User Interface paradigm where search results are displayed visually at a smaller scale. Children clicked on images to enlarge them. The visual interface made it easier for children to browse without advanced reading skills. KidZui also had category browsing that allowed children to explore the Internet using categories based on popularity or similarity. KidZui had an auto search complete feature that returns results after only typing one or two letters. KidZui offered to complete search terms using the most popular searches by other children and it showed search results as children type.